I found a tutorial that wasn't complete gibberish... I now know most of the concepts I need to complete RH... I'm doing some tests and hopefully I'll get a good chunk of the theory done by the end of the day!
- StepDragon
Oh boy am I happy!
I found a tutorial that wasn't complete gibberish... I now know most of the concepts I need to complete RH... I'm doing some tests and hopefully I'll get a good chunk of the theory done by the end of the day! - StepDragon
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We've been contacted by an individual who wants to help out with the project. Nothing definitive yet. We'll see how things pan out over the next day or so.
That's just another reminder in the back of my head on how much I need to get RH up and running. If there's anyone out there who can program and wants to help; get in touch with me. I could use the help. It doesn't matter what programming language you know, you can always make a dll that I can integrate into my program. That said, feel free to email me, or hit me up on the dashboard. - StepDragon Retexture Helper is starting to be a bit of a pain. I'm still at it though.
I'm writing RH in Visual Basic .NET. As I've described before, my goal is to create a way to syncronize data between computers automatically. This is simmilar to a RCS (Revision Control System) but completely automatic and seamless for the user. I have the interface for the program mostly set, but it will change if it needs to adapt to new features that I think of. Right now functionality is slim. I'm adapting a few things differently than they were intended. For example, I'm using a control that can detect the creation and deletion of files in a directory. I'm trying to make it so that I can detect when a file is moved from one directory to another... This usually causes a deletion in one folder and a creation in another.. the problem is detecting when both of those occurances happen at the same time, and when the coincide... I have a few theories about this, but they need tested. The main problem with my code is that I have absolutely no idea how to transfer a file over the internet. that is where my friend comes in... He tells me that there is a way for him to use a different programming language, which has easy to use commands for transferring files, and then compile it into a library that I can reference... I'm not sure how that works, but he says he can do it, so we shall see... on the downside, that means that I'm waiting on him before I can get some serious testing done in the program. Anyways, I just wanted to give you some background information on where I'm at with the program. I could also use some help with defining a local database, but that's just too much to explain in a blog post. If you know VB.NET and want to help out, hit me up in google chat. I'm always on [email protected] -StepDragon I'm gonna be truthful and say I haven't gotten much done recently. But I'm back at it and expect to see some detailed progress soon. I'm very much committed to this project, but bear with me, these things take time.
Keeping that in mind, my first priority is to get this project ready to accept more contributors. I know from working with Kage that working together gets better things done quicker. I'm still working on Retexture Helper, and I'm going to continue to focus on it. I've got a friend who should be lending me a hand soon. Now for the update. I'm going to spend the majority of this night updating the website. Although I don't have new content, I'm going to restructure a little. You'll notice by now that the Forum is gone. It was getting terribly too little traffic, and was just a waste of a page. The major change is going to be with the blog. I'm going to allow all contributors access to the blog, and no longer limit the blog to large updates or explanations. I came to this idea when I was watching the beginning of 'The Social Network' where Mark is typing short blog posts while working on his project. I like this idea and I'm going to adapt it. My first idea was to use a twitter feed, but that wouldn't allow large enough posts which would be expected at some point. Therefore I settled on repurposing this blog. The blog will now contain short snippets of my thought process or tiny updates as they happen. Each contributor can update the blog however they see fit. the blog will now have new categories: one for each contributor, so that you can read updates from each of us at once, or read it all together to get a feel for the overall progress. I know at some point that we'll make idiots of ourselves, and show our ignorances, but hey, that's life. Also tonight I'm going to post some updates on my progress on Retexture Helper. I'm stuck with a few things, and If you know how to code, PLEASE comment. I want to get it done, I don't care if I need help to do it. Updates Soon! - StepDragon Remember when I promised I would write a program that would automate the texturing progress? Well it's in the works! I'm spending the next few days writing it. It is going to be user friendly and support the following features:
Automated Organizing Automated Renaming Automated Upload of new Files (created by you, to your project server) Automated Download of new Files (created by other contributors, from the project server) Support for any number of Contributors Voting system for duplicates Auto naming of duplicates Auto choosing and update of duplicates (based on votes) Clean UI Minimize on Close Minimize to Tray Support any number of Projects If you don't understand the usage of this program, here's a short explanation: Each project contributor will run this program on their computer at all times. If they rename or move a file in the watched directories, the change will be made on everyone's computer. If they save a new file (such as a completed texture), it will automatically upload it to the server, and download it on all other computers. If the file already exists, it will be tagged with the creator's name, and be put up for voting. As contributors vote on files, the ones with highest ratings will automatically become enabled while the others are disabled. The program should only take a few days to write, and then I'll be using it exclusively on my project for a week or two, just to make sure that I get all the kinks out. Then I'll make it available for download. Look forward to it! I've updated the server that hosts the pack, and allows file sharing for contributors.
New features include: Automatic Password Protection Better UI Upload Progress Different Upload Directories Better Reliablility Easy to Remember Domain Newly added files will be marked 'NEW' for three days. Every folder is Archive Downloadable Take note that this server is currently only for project contributors, and is password protected. If you want to help out, you can chat with us on the Contributor Dashboard, or post in the Forum, or send me an email. I'm gonna be spending the next few days getting extremely organized with the project. I'm going to be putting up a more detailed progress page which will include the number of textures I've dumped and completed. I 'MIGHT' get some infrastructure up which will allow real time collaboration. That may take some extra time though.
Basically I'm trying to get the project to a point where I can bring in more contributors without the project becoming a cluster****. In a perfect world, there will be a database listing all the raw dumped files, a server to download them so that contributors without a computer capable of running the emulator can help, an upload client, and then listings of who has contributed each file. I'm also going to see If I can implement a system where if more than one person contributes a file, there will be a voting system for choosing which one better matches the theme of the project. This may seem a bit overboard for this project, but keep in mind that this is one of the first SERIOUS GCN/WII retexture projects out there. If I can set up a collaborative interface for this kind of project. I'm sure other projects will benefit from it. I have absolutely no idea how I'm going to accomplish all of this... (I am terrible with databases), so If anyone out there reading wants to help out with the infrastructure, by all means contact me in the Forum, or by using the form on the F.A.Q. page. I just noticed upon further inspection that some of the screenshots in the Faron section are really from Ordon. They're only one 'room' apart, so I hope you don't mind. I'm not going to bother changing it. More screenshots to be coming soon.
As you might be able to see in the Tutorial Page. I've come up with a new method of Texture Identification. This will save me about 65% of the time per texture AND will allow me to work on all textures in one area rather than working on textures scattered throughout the game!
More updates to come soon. I finished my texturing tutorial last night. Check it out.
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